Module manager: Dr Danielle Terrazas Williams
Email: D.TerrazasWilliams@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Slavery in nineteenth-century Cuba was a site of great tragedy and transition. Juan Francisco Manzano’s slave narrative is the only such autobiography of an enslaved person while slavery still existed in Cuba. Manzano (1797-1854) experienced the height of Cuba’s investment in slavery and did not live to see its abolition (1886). Through the close reading and analysis of his autobiography and additional primary sources on slavery and empire, we will consider themes of family/community, gendered experiences of slavery, labour conditions, freedom, violence, and mental health. We will also discuss what it means for a historian to explore the history of slavery primarily through the lens of one person’s experience of this expansive and dominating institution. This module will ensure weekly individual and pair/group engagement with primary sources related to slavery, including visual materials, data sets, testimonies, and legal culture. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
The aim of this module is develop skills and strengthen concepts relevant to Slavery Studies and to enhance your knowledge of the histories of marginalized people. It further seeks to challenge meanings of domination and resistance, to introduce understudied themes of early modern history, and to critically analyse relevant theoretical and historiographical developments. The module will develop your methodological approaches for written and graphic primary sources and enable you to formulate nuanced observations and conclusions in both written and oral presentations.
On successful completion of the module you will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Critically analyse the historical developments and complexity of slavery in 19th-century Cuba
2. Use critical thinking to assess the validity of historical interpretations and the value and limitations of primary sources.
3. Implement qualitative methodologies to analyse primary sources.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module you will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. Communicate nuanced interpretations of primary and secondary sources.
5. Implement fundamental standards and practices of historical study for research, discussion, and assessed work.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision | 2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Seminar | 10 | 2 | 20 |
| Private study hours | 179.6 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20.4 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
You will be offered the opportunity to submit and receive feedback on a sample of your source analysis. You will receive individual and group feedback on this exercise to prepare you for your first summative assessment.
You will be offered the opportunity submit and receive feedback on a sample of your essay. You will receive individual and group feedback on this exercise to prepare you for your second summative assessment.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Primary Source Analysis | 40 |
| Coursework | Essay | 60 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 29/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team